If you want to grow in prayer, one of the most helpful things you can do is learn from people who have walked the path ahead of you.
The books I recommend below are thoughtful, accessible and deeply encouraging. Each approaches prayer slightly differently – but all three will help you move from uncertainty to confidence, from routine to relationship.
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Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools – Tyler Staton
If you only read one book on prayer, read this one!
This is by far my favourite book on prayer.
It’s a joy to read – Staton has a beautiful writing style. It’s full of great stories that really pull you in and bring his arguments to life. And it’s packed full of real gems and “aha” moments.
I’ve been a Christian for over 40 years, I’ve prayed all my life, I must’ve sat through dozens – if not hundreds – of sermons on prayer, I’ve read through my Bible multiple times and yet I learned so many new things about prayer while reading this book!
Some of the insights just blew my mind. The insights on prayer as the “middle voice” are just extraordinary, as is the entire chapter on praying for the lost.
But don’t read this book if you don’t want to be challenged. This book is deeply challenging – even if you’ve been a prayer warrior your whole life… but in the best possible way. It will challenge you to take prayer more seriously, pray with greater expectation… and never again will you think of prayer as “boring”!
Honestly, I wish every Christian would read this book.
Key quotes:
“Prayer is the recovery of our role in God’s created order, the recovery of our true identity and the relationship that defines that identity to us.”
“Plenty of those in today’s church would say… ‘I want to see revival!’… Far fewer are ready to labour in secret prayer. It’s not glamorous. But it is powerful and effective.”
Best for:
- Anyone who wants to be re-enthused about prayer and reinvigorated in their prayer life.
- Anyone who wants to gain a greater understanding of the power of prayer
- Anyone who wants to grow in their prayer life and get even more serious about prayer
BUY IT HERE >>> Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools
How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People – Pete Greig
How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People is written by Pete Greig, founder of the 24/7 Prayer movement and co-host of Lectio 365.
It’s a book that really does do what it promises on the cover – it’s a simple guide to prayer for normal people!
It is a wonderfully practical and down-to-earth introduction to prayer. It’s very easy to understand, deeply practical, and it’s packed full of anecdotes, stories and examples, which bring what he is teaching in this book to life.
If you are brand new to prayer, this is the book for you! This is also a brilliant book to give away – to new Christians, to friends who are struggling with knowing how to pray… even to non-Christians who are curious about prayer.
It’s structured around a very simple and memorable acronym: P.R.A.Y. which stands for:
- Pause
- Rejoice
- Ask
- Yield
But it doesn’t shy away from “tricky” subjects, like unanswered prayer and spiritual warfare.
One of my favourite parts is the analogy he makes about prayer being like “date night” for married couples. He points out that just as a marriage requires effort and intention to keep it healthy and strong, so too our relationship with God requires disciplines such as Bible study, fellowship… and of course prayer, to stay healthy and strong.
Key quotes:
“Keep it simple. Keep it real. Keep it up.”
“There are wonderful things that will only happen if we ask for them.”
Best for:
- New Christians and anyone who is new to prayer
- People who struggle with “how to pray”
- Anyone who wants something practical and accessible on prayer
BUY IT HERE >>> How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People
Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God – Timothy Keller
I’ll be honest with you here. This book is not for the fainthearted.
But if you want something that goes deep into the theological weeds of what exactly prayer is, how it works and how prayer shapes our hearts, this is the book for you.
However, if you are new to prayer, don’t enjoy dense theological arguments, or you’re just looking for something really practical, I’d probably steer clear of this one.
Keller does get to the practical side of prayer in the second half of the book, but if academic teaching and dense theological arguments are not your style, you’ll probably have given up long before you get there!
But if you don’t mind wading through dense theology, there are many, many gems to be found in this book.
This book will stretch your mind but it will also equip you with some very practical steps to deepen your prayer life.
Key quotes:
“God often waits to give you a blessing until you have prayed for it.”
“Prayer should be done regularly, persistently, resolutely, and tenaciously at least daily, whether we feel like it or not.”
Best for:
- Theology-geeks who love thoughtful, academic, Scripture-rich teaching
- Mature Christians who want to go deeper in their understanding of prayer
- Anyone who struggles with the theology of prayer and how it “works”
BUY IT HERE >>> Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God
